Esoteric Meandering Shouting Into the Void

Four U.S. Presidents never had a Vice President.

For about 37 years of its history, the U.S. has been without a second-in-command. Before the passage of the 25th Amendment in 1967, there was no procedure for filling the role if a commander in chief died in office. Instead, there just wasn’t a VP if that happened — at least not until the next presidential election. Thanks to this legislative quirk, John Tyler, Millard Fillmore, Andrew Johnson, and Chester Arthur (all VPs under a President who died in office) served their entire presidential terms without a Vice President. 

Other Presidents have gone without VPs for at least part of their terms, whether through resignation (two) or because their veeps died in office (seven). The first VP vacancy occurred in 1812, when George Clinton, President James Madison’s running mate, died in office. Strangely, Madison’s VP pick for his second term also died in office, after serving only about 20 months. The last executive shuffle occurred during the Nixon administration in 1973–74, when Spiro Agnew and Richard Nixon both resigned (Agnew about nine months before Nixon, amid tax evasion and corruption charges). Nixon nominated Gerald Ford to replace Agnew, and after Nixon himself resigned in August 1974 following the Watergate scandal, Ford became the first and only President never elected by the U.S. people. Ford left the vice presidency vacant for several months until Nelson Rockefeller finally filled the position on December 19, 1974. Since then, the U.S. has never been without a veep.

• KHRUSHCHEV & HOXHA, 1961

In the wake of World War II, new ideological borders were drawn across the European continent. Vast cultural and economic differences formed a deep divide between the democratic nations of Western Europe and the communist regimes of the Soviet Union and its allies in the East. Throughout the Cold War era, these two distinct factions were separated by a symbolic boundary that cut through the continent, known as the Iron Curtain.

The term “Iron Curtain” was first used in reference to the Cold War in 1946; nations that were considered “behind” the Iron Curtain were those under Soviet and communist influence, as those regimes maintained a firm grasp on power. As time progressed, cracks formed in the Iron Curtain as former communist nations embraced democracy, ultimately leading to the political reunification of Europe. But for as long as it existed, the Iron Curtain served as a philosophical barrier between two vastly different worlds. Here are five fascinating facts from behind the Iron Curtain.

Photo credit: Icon and Image/ Michael Ochs Archives via Getty Images

The Term “Iron Curtain” Was Popularized by Winston Churchill

Long before the term “Iron Curtain” was coined in reference to the Cold War, the words referred to a fireproof safety mechanism that separated the audience from the stage in theatrical productions. In 1945, author Alexander Campbell borrowed the term in his book It’s Your Empire to describe censorship related to World War II-era Japanese conquests. “Iron Curtain” was first used in the context of communist Europe during a speech by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill on March 5, 1946. Appearing with President Harry Truman at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, Churchill stated, “From Stettin in the Baltic, to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the continent.” Churchill sought to warn the audience of the threat posed by the Soviet Union, and the term “Iron Curtain” resonated, remaining popular for decades after. Around the same time as Churchill’s speech, another great wordsmith used the phrase “Cold War” for the first time — author George Orwell in his 1945 essay “You and the Atom Bomb.” Two years later, Truman adviser Bernard Baruch formally coined the term “Cold War” to describe the cooling relationship between the United States and Soviet Union.